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SuicideSolution

Oct 12 2006, 10:56 PM

Hi all,

I use Adaware SE personel and have done so for quite some time now. In the last 2 weeks i seem to have encountered a problem using the scanner.

when ever it reaches a certain file, namely C:\WINDOWS\system32\icsxml
Adaware freezes and by this time approx 159500 items have been scanned. My mouse pointer shows the egg-timer and it simply doesnt progress. I have left it for over an hour but still no progression and i ave to click on the cancel button, this doesnt actually canel the scan tho ??? it simply allows me to click it again to actually cancel the scan and when i try to look at the scan summary it says that items scanned is 1234567890 and all other values are 99.

I am using AOL 9.0 (ok,ok stop laughing

)
Windows XP SP2
Internet Explorer 7 beta 2 installed
McAfee Personal Firewall Plus
McAfee Service centre

I recently posted for help on the Pitstop forums and having run a few online scanners etc we have established that the problem doesnt appear to be associated to any spyware - we also tried to run AVG active scan but having installed it it simply wouldnt run and kept giving the error message :
Something bad happened in the application. Error diagnostic file saved to 'C:\Program Files\grisoft\AVG Anti Spyware 7.5\avgas.err'.

I also seem to have a problem with a folder - unused desktop shortcuts - every time i open this folder my computer 'hangs' from anything between 15 seconds to 3 minutes and very rarely it hangs indenfinately causing me to restart by turning the computer off. After a usual 'hang' i get an error message saying IE encountered a problem and had to close then i can actually access the folder and its contents which are simply some rarely used short cut icons.
I had scanned this folder previously with Ewido (before i uninstalled it to install AVG that didnt work) and there no found items of concern.

Any help would be appreciated as I am getting old and grey naturally, i dont need this acceleration process

Cheers

Loz

spike-nz

Oct 13 2006, 05:03 AM

Hi SuicideSolution,

There are quite a few reasons for the scan to freeze - try the list of suggested fixes in my post in this thread: conditional scans? pc gets stuck on those

Let us know how you get on,

Spike

SuicideSolution

Oct 13 2006, 11:27 AM

Cheers Spike,

Thanks for the direction ... i will let you know how i get on

regards

Loz

SuicideSolution

Oct 13 2006, 08:07 PM

Hiya,

I followed all the directions given on the links you kindly provided and managed to clear all items that AA found prior to stalling.
However on doing a full length scan it still hung.
I have recently done a Panda online and the only thing of concern found was brilliantdigital for which i am receiving some removal help from the lovely people at Pc Pitstop ..

I suppose it is possible that this lovely little secret addtion to my puter may be the cause of the hang??? and until it is gone i dont reakon we can do much with AA ....

If i manage to cure the hanging issue by the removal of brilliantdigital then i will post here to hopefully give some help to others for the future and if not then i shall be back for more help

Cheers for now

Loz

SuicideSolution

Oct 17 2006, 12:56 AM

Hiya

Back again, sorry to say that none of the previous suggestions have cured the hang and i still get stuck on the same file.

I have now removed brilliantdigital but this has made no difference to my AdAware Se

Any further help on the subject will be greatfully received.

Cheers

Loz

SuicideSolution

Oct 19 2006, 04:26 PM

Bump

spike-nz

Oct 21 2006, 01:08 AM

Hi SuicideSolution,

Since A-Aware won't complete a "Full Scan", try a "Custom Scan".

Click to view attachment

Select "Customise"

Click to view attachment

then "Select drives and folders to scan"

Click to view attachment

Navigate to the folder where the scan freezes and de-select it.

Then try running the scan and see if it runs right through.

Regards,

Spike

SuicideSolution

Oct 22 2006, 01:44 AM

Hi again Spkie,

It seems that the location i previously listed as the freeze point isnt unique. I followed your instruction and removed C:\WINDOWS\system32\icsxml as a scan location and ran a system scan but it froze in a completely different location this time ... somewhere around system volume restore information folder ...

What to do? I must have something on my PC causing probs coz i cant install any Windows Security updates at the moment either

any advice?

Cheers

Loz

Mark741

Oct 24 2006, 11:44 PM

After years of running a pretty tight ship with Ad Aware and Trend Micro Internet Security on my 5 computer home network, I am having the exact same trouble with Ad Aware on 1 computer for the last 3 days.
Same bogus stats, etc as detailed in the first posting here.
When Ad Aware stops progressing, the task manager shows zero CPU usage for Ad Aware.

I have tried the posted suggestions for similar problems that have been detailed in other posts.
Whatever minor items I have found during the past 3 days of scanning has been deleted and now Scans are clean from Trend Internet Security on anti virus and spyware detection; Lavasoft virtumonde, and Look2me.
Spy- search and destroy was installed, run (no results) and uninstalled.
Still no help when I run AA.

I have tried to use a protected version of Ad Aware by loading a complete AA program on a USB stick and setting defs and program files to "read only". All to no avail. It still runs slow and then stops.

Hitting cancel twice will bring it back to the start screen.

I have tried running it in custom scan on just hard drive files, avoiding memory and registry but the results are the same- somewhere in mid-scan it stops. When this happens there is no indication of spyware files found during the early part of the scan.

Early on in this process 3 days ago I uninstalled AA, ran chkdsk, defrag, re-installed AA.
No help.

This seems to be a challenge................I know something is there somewhere...........

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Mark

spike-nz

Oct 25 2006, 05:09 AM

Hi SuicideSolution & Mark741,

Sorry, I'm out of ideas. There is a possibility that a pest has crept into your systems - some of them are very good at hiding, often using legit file names and targeting anti-spyware/malware programs to prevent detection.

I would suggest that you each post a new topic in the HijackThis section of the forum.

Give full details of your problem and paste a link back to this post (copy/paste the address above) to show the steps that you have already taken.

Instructions on creating a HijackThis Log

Due to the number of requests for help, it may take a few days for the expert log-readers to get to you - please be patient and don't "bump" your Topic (ie: add extra posts to it), as logs are answered from oldest to newest

Regards,

Spike

SuicideSolution

Oct 26 2006, 08:04 PM

Thanks for the advice Spike,

I had already checked out my HJT logs on PC pitstop in case they had contributed to this 'problem' with AA but i was told they are fine and hence came to Lavasoft so im thinking that this wont help.

I appreciate your time but i think i shall have to live with the problem until i find something hiding in my system .... the best i can do is cancel the scan before it gets to the problem location or as soon as it recognises x amount of probs found, cancel the scan and clear them as they are found

I cannot run the newest AVG software at the mo either so i have reverted to an older version of Ewido to try and combat the secret problem.

Panda scan finds nothing of any interest either. If i do manage to find a bug hiding somewhere, i will of course let you all know

Cheers

Loz

Mark741

Oct 27 2006, 01:40 PM

My Problem Solved !!

The day after I wrote in on this thread, I re-ran chkdsk and found additional problems in the file system.
This got me suspicious about the hard drive since I had no crashes etc during the 2 day period between chkdsk runs and finding more file errors after just a few days is certainly out of place.

Last night I completed installing a new hard drive and mirrored over my original install of Windows XP to it from the ailing original hard drive. (The original drive was now running noticably slower than normal and files were being visibly corrupted.)
After doing chkdsk on the new drive after installation to fix the problems on it due to the old drive, Ad Aware worked fine and completed a full scan!!!!

So after much troubleshooting the past few days it appears confirmed that Ad Aware was giving me an early indication of progressing hard drive failure and did not complete its scan due to file system problems.
Just as one of the FAQs from the experts suggested - do chkdsk and defrag and re-run Ad Aware.

All thats left is to do a Windows repair-install to fix a few visible gliches that occurred during the final hours of the old drives operation.

spike-nz

Oct 27 2006, 10:47 PM

Hi Loz & Mark,

Glad to hear that you are sorted-out now, Mark

Loz, please read the lated LS blog here : Lavasoft Blog In particular, the first section

QUOTE

There have been some problems with our definition file updates lately. No, we’re not too proud to admit that. In fact, we are addressing it head-on, and we’re speaking to you directly through the forums, through e-mails, through this blog, and anywhere else that we think you might be listening.

The Lavasoft Security Center (previously Lavasoft Research Center) has a strategy in place that is going to provide a stronger network for individuals that wish to truly engage in the fight against malware. One of the methods of achieving their goals requires new processes to be established and services upgraded. As a result of the short-term changes that will develop into long-term benefits, there have been a few issues with the definition file updates, including false positives. We know that is not acceptable for you, and you need to know that it is not acceptable for us, either. Completion of the processes currently being implemented is expected next week and is just one of the ways that we are directly addressing false positives.

Some of you have experienced incorrect dates on your definition file updates. Again, we’ve addressed this in our current system, and we expect that the new processes in place next week ensure that this does not happen again in the future.

Have you had problems getting to the definition file updates? There are a few places that you can download the latest Ad-Aware definition file updates in addition to our own website, especially if you are trying to download at the same time that our 200 million users around the globe are trying to download. Try one of our mirror sites, like our long-standing partners at MajorGeeks.com. They are an official Lavasoft mirror site for Ad-Aware SE Personal free downloads as well as the definition file updates.

Changes can be tough. But any inconveniences that you may be experiencing today are short-term, and while we don’t like these issues that have arisen, we know that there are going to be long-term benefits for everyone. We are committed, and we are loyal to you. Bear with us and be assured that you’ll be glad you did!

So, yes there have been problems, but they are being worked-on as we speak.

Regards,

Spike

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